:=: Maria :=:

Maria pulled into the restaurant parking-lot, right on time for her lunch meeting.

Liz had called yesterday and asked if she was available today, and suggested this restaurant. It was somewhat unusual, but Maria had agreed. She'd never had a very close relationship with her sister-in-law, and it had been further strained since everything changed last summer.

She picked up her purse then left the car and headed into the restaurant. It only took a moment to spot Liz, waiting at a table in the middle of the dining area. The restaurant was not very busy at the moment, though it was a bit early yet for the lunch crowd. And it was a Monday, which usually wasn't too busy regardless.

"Hello Liz." Maria smiled politely as she sat down across from the blonde woman. "How have you been?"

Liz had a slight frown on her face, and there was a look of stress or tension around her eyes. She looked at Maria for a few moments then replied in a somewhat tense voice, "Fine. Yourself?"

Maria tried not to frown. There was clearly something bothering her sister-in-law.

"I'm well thanks. How are the girls?" she asked. "Settling in ok to a new school year?"

Liz nodded slightly, "They're fine."

Maria knew something had to be bothering the woman, and started wracking her mind to figure out if there was something she'd done, or something she hadn't done, that might have offended her sister-in-law. She hadn't missed anyone's birthday, she hadn't ignored any emails or calls, not that she'd had many lately.

The waitress came by and took their drinks orders, then Maria and Liz just sat quietly with each other for a few minutes. Maria was staring at the menu but she wasn't really reading it, she was still trying to figure out what had Liz on edge.

Eventually the waitress brought them their drinks and took their orders.

After that, Maria finally gave up and asked "Liz, I can tell you're upset about something. What's bothering you?"

The blonde woman had a sip of her black coffee, then she fixed her eyes on Maria then spoke in a cold, quiet voice. "I found out the truth Maria. About what you did to David last summer."

Maria wasn't sure what exactly Liz was referring to, but she knew whatever it was wouldn't be good. "What do you mean?"

Liz glared, she kept her voice low but the anger was clear. "You made him want that! Your magic, your curse! When you left him changed like that for a week, it twisted his mind!"

Maria felt her blood turn cold, and her stomach grew cold and heavy. She glanced around a little, but fortunately there was no-one else seated nearby.

"Liz, this isn't the place to have this discussion. Let's go somewhere private..."

Liz shook her head, "Not a chance! Not after what you did to David after the 'private discussion' you had with him! We're meeting in public, so I know you won't try any of your curses and magic on me."

"Liz..." Maria felt her stomach lurch. "I'd never do anything like that..."

The blonde was still glaring angrily, and fortunately she was keeping her voice low. "Your magic, your lies, Maria... You took my husband from me! You killed him!"

Maria reeled with shock at the accusations. She shook her head, "You know that's not true, Liz. Sadie is alive and well. And she's happy..."

"She's not David! Not any more!" Liz almost hissed the words through clenched teeth. "It's been fourteen months, Maria. There's nothing left of David! That's your fault. You did that to your own brother!"

Her stomach lurched again, and feelings of guilt started to wash over her again.

Maria sighed, "Liz, I'm sorry. I had no idea that would happen. I swear to you... And as soon as I found out, I came straight over and tried to fix things..."

Liz scoffed a little. "You tried to fix things? Bullshit Maria! You still took David away from me a month later! You and that witch friend of yours!"

Maria sighed again, "Liz... You said yourself, he was suffering. There was nothing else we could do. The only option was to give him what he wanted..."

Liz stated coldly, "You could have said something, Maria. You said you came to lift the curse as soon as you knew there was a problem? Yet you never said a word about it! You knew there was a problem, and you said nothing!"

The blonde took a deep breath then continued speaking, glaring at Maria the whole time.

"When you came back with new ID for Jenny, and David told you what he was feeling? You could have said something then! When he called you two weeks later and asked you and the other witches to help him, you could have said something! And when you and that woman came into my home at the end of July... You told David and I that the magic he'd asked for was permanent, that it could never be undone. But you never once thought to mention the truth, about why he was suffering, why he was feeling the way he did!"

Maria felt like she was going to drown in her own guilt. She tried to explain, "Liz... Knowing why wouldn't have helped him. It wouldn't have stopped the feelings... It wouldn't have stopped his dysphoria..."

Liz hissed, "You don't know that! It might have at least given him second thoughts! It might have made him stop and re-think the situation!"

Maria sighed deeply, then shook her head. "No Liz. All it would have done was give you ammunition to try and make David wait, to prolong his suffering... I'm sorry. I swear to you, I tried to find a way to fix it. There was nothing I could do... The only way to help him, was to give him what he wanted. He's... Sadie is happy now. Surely you can see that for yourself?"

Liz glared back her, almost scowling. "What about my happiness, Maria? What about my feelings? What about what was best for me?" She shook her head. "I don't care what you tried, and what you thought was best for David. At the end of the day, my husband is gone Maria, and it's your fault!"

Maria was silent for a few moments as the waitress delivered their meals. She had absolutely no appetite at this point, and just sighed a little.

"Liz, I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can say. It was an accident. I didn't know. I tried to fix it, but I couldn't. In the end all we could do was make the best of the situation..."

The blonde shook her head, then stated "You aren't welcome in my home Maria. You're not to have any further contact with my girls. I never want to see or hear from you again."

Maria felt her stomach lurch once more. "But Liz... they're my nieces... Sadie's my sister..."

Liz stood up. "David was your brother, and you killed him. Good bye, Maria."

With that, she turned and walked out of the restaurant.

Maria sighed deeply. Now she just felt nauseous, as she stared at the two untouched meals on the table.

:=: Sadie :=:

"Hey sis, that smells really good!" Amanda smiled as she came into the kitchen. "What are you making?"

Sadie grinned, "It's chicken parmesan. With spaghetti and steamed veggies on the side."

"Mom's favourite?" Amanda smirked. "You trying to score some points with her or something?"

Sadie shrugged, "She was pretty grumpy yesterday, and I got yelled at a bunch about cleaning my room and stuff."

Jenny was setting the table, and asked, "Amanda, can you get drinks out for everyone?"

The older blonde nodded, "Yeah, sure."

Soon enough the three girls had everything just about ready to go. There were glasses of cola for Amanda and Jenny, a glass of root beer for Sadie, and a bottle of water for mom.

Right on schedule they heard the front door open. It was just about half past six.

Jenny called out, "Hi mom!"

Sadie started serving up the food, as mom came into the kitchen and took her seat.

"Hi mom, I hope you're hungry!" Sadie grinned. "I made your favourite..." Her smile faded as she saw her mother's expression. "Uh-oh. Bad day at work, huh?"

Mom just scowled a bit, and took a drink of her water.

Sadie knew as well as her sisters, when mom was in that kind of mood, it was best not to push their luck. They all just started eating silently together.

About five minutes into the meal, their mom set down her cutlery and took another drink of water.

Then she announced, "Girls. You are not to speak with your aunt Maria any more. She won't be visiting again. If she calls you, or if she texts or emails, don't answer. Just tell me, or show me what she sent you."

Sadie was shocked, and she could tell by the looks on her sister's faces, they were just as surprised as she was.

Mom added, "And if any of you try to contact her, if you call, text, or email her, then you'll be grounded for a month and you'll lose your phone for the same duration."

Jenny spoke up first, asking "Why? What did aunt Maria do?"

"This isn't open for discussion!" Mom had almost snapped at Jenny. The young teen looked startled by the harsh tone she'd received.

Mom added, "My decision is final, and I won't be changing my mind."

Sadie and her sisters all looked at each other again in shock. Sadie looked back at mom, and asked, "Can't you at least tell us why?"

Mom just glared hard at her for a moment, then said in a cold tone, "Sadie, you aren't to see or speak with Ashley any more either."

Sadie felt a stronger shock, and demanded "What?! You can't do that!"

Mom replied, "I can and I just did. No contact. Or you're grounded and lose your phone."

"But why?! Mom she's my girlfriend!" Sadie was feeling sick to her stomach, trying to understand what was going on.

Mom just glared at her again for a moment, then said in a cold voice, "I know about Gord."

Amanda frowned, "Who's Gord?"

Sadie felt her blood go cold, and the nausea grew stronger. Her voice was almost a whisper as she asked, "But... how? How did you find out?"

She saw just a brief moment of hesitation on mom's face, then the angry look returned again. Mom stated, "You left your diary out.

Sadie felt her stomach twist, and her hands felt shaky, but there was anger now as well. She almost shouted, "You read my diary!? How could you?! That's private!"

Mom remained calm, and almost sounded cold as she stated, "This is my house. You don't keep secrets from me, Sadie!"

She then addressed all three of them, "I don't want any of you associating with Maria, or her friends, or anyone else who's been involved with those people."

Sadie still felt sick but her anger was growing stronger. "Both me and Jenny were 'involved' with 'those people' mom! Is that the problem? Are you suddenly anti-trans now?" Then after a heartbeat she demanded, "Or is this more of your old homophobia finally coming back again?!"

She knew as soon as she said it, she'd gone too far.

Mom was mad now. She glared at Sadie and shouted, "You go to your room right now!"

Sadie got up and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Her heart was pounding, she wanted to throw up, and her hands were shaking. She needed to get out of the house, away from mom for a while. She needed to get some fresh air. And she needed to talk to Ashley. She also had to talk with aunt Maria.

Her eyes were starting to fill with tears, as she pulled on a jacket and grabbed her purse. She also took her diary out from under her mattress and stuffed it in her purse along with her phone. Then she hurried back down the stairs towards the front door.

As she reached the door, her mother shouted from the kitchen, "If you go out that door don't bother coming back!"

Sadie turned and looked back at the kitchen. She could see mom looked livid. Amanda was just looking shocked, and Jenny looked frightened and confused, like she was about to cry.

Sadie stared back at her mom for a few seconds, blinking the tears out of her eyes. Then she turned and left. She pulled the door closed behind her, and started running.

At first she didn't even know where she was going, just letting her emotions direct her as she ran. Eventually she found herself out on the main road, just down the street from her school.

There were some restaurants and a cafe down the street past the school. Or she was part-way to Ashley's house. She thought about going the rest of the way and knocking on Ashley's door, but she wasn't sure about her girlfriend's parents, and about just showing up unannounced at dinner time.

For a few minutes she just stood there on the side of the road, not knowing what to do next, or where to go. Finally Sadie sighed and slumped onto a bench next to the bus stop, and took out out her phone.

She had to wipe her eyes a few times to see what she was writing, as she sent a few texts to Ashley. After that, she opened up her contacts and scrolled down to Maria's name and then tapped the 'phone' icon.

:=: Maria :=:

Maria took the leftovers out of the microwave and sat down to eat. Since she'd wound up having to pay for the two lunches that neither herself or Liz had touched, she had them both packed up to-go and brought them home with her.

Now she was having one for dinner, and the other would be her lunch tomorrow.

As she ate, she focused on her laptop on the table next to her plate. She was reviewing her schedule for the rest of the week.

She was about halfway through dinner when her phone started ringing.

Maria looked at the screen and saw Sadie's name. She reached for the phone, then hesitated. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to her meal and her laptop, and just let the phone ring.

She didn't agree with Liz, and she hated being cut off from her nieces. They were the only family she had left now. But she felt she had to respect Liz's right as a parent. It didn't help that she still felt a tremendous amount of guilt about the whole situation, despite Sadie's assurances that she was happy and grateful for how things had turned out.

After a half minute the phone finally stopped ringing, and then a minute or so later there was a new voice-mail notification.

Maria sighed again, and continued eating her dinner.

Thirty or forty minutes later, after she'd finished eating and washed the dishes, Maria sat down on the sofa. She'd done as Liz requested and hadn't spoken to Sadie, but there was nothing wrong with listening to the voicemail. She picked up her phone to check her messages.

Maria immediately knew something wasn't right when she heard the sounds of road traffic in the background, and then when her niece spoke, Maria could tell the girl was crying.

"Hi aunt Maria... Mom and I had a huge fight... I needed to go out and get some air... And she told me not to come home again... So um... I guess I'm kicked out... I don't know where I'm gonna go... I'll talk to you later... Bye..."

"Fuck!" Maria rarely swore, but this situation certainly called for it.

She thought for a few moments, then closed her eyes and focused on Sadie, as she recited the clairvoyance spell.

After a few seconds, an image came into focus. Sadie was at a coffee shop with her friend Ashley.

Maria let her focus expand outwards enough to see the location. Her niece hadn't gone too far from home, the cafe was actually near the girls' high-school.

She grabbed her purse and her keys, and hurried out the door.

About a half hour later she was pulling into the parking lot of the cafe, and she could see the two teens still sitting inside together. Maria hurried inside to join them. As she approached the table, she could see Sadie had stopped crying, but she looked weary.

Sadie looked up and smiled weakly, "Hi aunt Maria..."

Maria gave the girl a hug, Sadie hugged her back.

"I'm going to get myself a coffee then I'll be right back." Maria told the two girls. "Do either of you want anything else?"

Sadie and Ashley both shook their heads. They both had lattes that were still half-full.

Maria went up to the counter and got herself a small coffee then returned to the girls and sat down with them.

Once she was seated, Sadie looked at her and asked quietly, "Aunt Maria, what happened with you and mom? Something must have happened, because tonight she told me and Amanda and Jenny we're not allowed to see you or talk with you any more. But she wouldn't say why."

Maria sighed deeply. "Your mother asked me to meet her for lunch today. She told me the same thing, that I'm not to visit any more and not to speak with any of you girls. That's why I didn't answer when you called, Sadie. I'm sorry."

"But why though?" Sadie asked.

Maria hesitated, then leaned a little closer to Sadie and whispered, "She found out, somehow... About the spell from last summer, what happened to you. The stuff I told you in the springtime?"

Sadie sighed deeply, "Of course... She read my diary. It's all my fault! I should never have written that stuff down..."

Ashley had been quiet since Maria's arrival, but now she asked softly "I still don't understand why your mom's so mad? Like wasn't she ok with you? And she's ok with Jenny... So what's happened, why is it a problem for you now?"

Sadie sighed again. "It's a lot more complicated with me, than it ever was with Jenny. Like, a hundred times more complicated."

"Why though?" Ashley asked, frowning.

Sadie glanced at Maria, but she just shrugged slightly. It wasn't her place to say anything about Sadie's past, and she didn't know Ashley well enough to give Sadie advice one way or another.

After a long pause, Sadie whispered "When I became Sadie, I didn't just become a girl. My age changed too. I wasn't even Amanda's twin or anything like that, before."

Ashley frowned, leaning closer. The two kept speaking in whispers, as Ashley asked, "So you were an older brother or something? Is that it? Firstborn son or whatever?"

Sadie took a sip of her latte then sighed, "I never told you this Ashley because I'm scared you won't like me any more. Or it'll make things too weird, and you'll wanna stay away or something? But I feel guilty for keeping it from you, because I know about your past and stuff and I feel like to be fair you should know about mine too... But I'm scared."

Maria quickly glanced around to make sure no-one could be listening in, but the cafe was almost empty, there wasn't anyone else around close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

She stayed quiet for now, sipping her coffee as she watched the two teens talk. She had a feeling this was a discussion Sadie needed her here for, as moral support.

Ashley replied softly, "Whatever you say, it's not going to make me feel any differently about you, Sadie."

"Don't say that till you know." Sadie whispered. "And if you don't wanna be friends any more, I won't hold it against you. Just, promise you won't tell anyone else, ok?"

Ashley nodded, "Of course I promise. You know I won't say anything. And I won't leave you."

Sadie had another sip of her drink, and took a deep breath. She was staring down at her latte now, as she whispered, "I wasn't just a little older. I was a lot older. I wasn't Amanda's older brother or anything like that... I was an adult. I used to be a lawyer..."

Her cheeks were red now as she took another deep breath then sighed, "I was Amanda and Jenny's dad... Liz's husband..."

Maria had her eyes on Ashley, and was almost holding her breath. She watched the teen's eyes slowly get wider and wider as she listened to her girlfriend's confession.

Ashley gasped softly "Holy shit! For real?"

Sadie was still blushing, and kept her eyes down on her latte. She sighed, "It's true Ashley... I'm sorry. I was an old guy..." Without looking up, Sadie nodded towards Maria and added in a whisper "I was her older brother..."

Maria was still silent as she watched the two girls.

Ashley finally shook her head and whispered, "Maybe you were once, a long time ago. But you've been Sadie for as long as I've known you. That's who you are to me, that's who you are now. And that's all that matters."

Maria breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Sadie smiled a little and wiped some fresh tears from her eyes, "Thanks Ashley..."

"I'm curious though." Ashley whispered, "Why'd you become a teen? Why become Amanda's twin?"

"That was mom's idea." Sadie whispered. "She's... I'm pretty sure she's homophobic. She'd have made me move out if I'd stayed an adult. She didn't say it but I'm sure she was worried about like, what the neighbours would think, like they'd assume she was gay or something stupid like that."

She sighed again then continued, "I told her I didn't wanna leave the family. So she suggested, if I was one of her girls, then it would be 'acceptable' for me to stay... I'm positive she thought I'd refuse the idea. Like, she only suggested it cos she didn't think I'd say yes. And when I did agree, she was really surprised..."

Ashley looked thoughtful as she had a sip of her drink. Finally she said, "Ok... I'm not going to leave you or anything Sadie. It'll take me a bit to get my head around it though. But all that stuff doesn't explain why now, like what happened to make your mom go crazy tonight?"

Maria finally spoke up, "It's my fault, Ashley..."

Sadie shook her head "No aunt Maria it's not. It was an accident. No-one was to blame. I don't care what mom says, I don't blame you. And you tried to fix it as soon as you knew."

"What though?" Ashley asked. "What was no-one's fault?"

Sadie sighed. "There was a, uh, accident with magic last summer. It affected me. I wrote about it in my diary, and mom just found out when she read it."

Maria just sighed again as well, feeling the guilt starting to wash over her again.

She finally said, "Sadie, you can come and stay with me for now. Liz might not be happy about it, but I'd like to think she'd rather have you with me than spending the night in a shelter. Or a park or on the street."

"Thanks aunt Maria." Sadie gave her a weak smile. "I don't really know what's going to happen with mom. I hope she'll calm down though..."

Ashley then suggested, "Maybe you can use magic or something? To fix things with her?"

"No." Maria shook her head. "Magic is what started the whole mess in the first place."

Sadie frowned, "No I started the whole mess, by being a stubborn obstinate close-minded jerk. Magic made Jenny's life better, and it made Ashley's life better, and it made me a better person. I don't care what mom says. I'm grateful for everything you did, aunt Maria. And I feel blessed it happened."

Maria sighed again, she was still struggling with her guilt.

Sadie wouldn't let up though. Still speaking softly, she said "I know you're feeling guilty Maria, and I wish you'd let that go. The only one who blames you is you. Don't listen to Liz about this stuff, she's wrong. So take a few deep breaths, and just let it go. Please."

The teen's words struck a note with Maria. For the moment, she could imagine it was her brother speaking with her.

She knew it wasn't an accident that Sadie had said 'Liz' instead of 'mom', or that she'd omitted the 'aunt' when saying 'Maria'. It seemed that Liz was mistaken, there was still at least some of David still present in the brunette teen.

Maria accepted the advice, and took a few deep breaths. She tried to let go of the guilt, but that was easier said than done. For now, she pushed it aside and focused on the practical matters at hand.

"Ok." She sighed, "Ashley, I'll drop you off at home. And Sadie, you'll come with me back to my place. Think about whether or not you're feeling up to going to school in the morning. If you are, I'll drive you."

The two teens nodded, and they both drained the last of their lattes. Then they followed Maria out of the cafe and into her car.